My phone has ICS and honestly I'm not getting a lot out of it. I could be back on 2.3 or 2.2 and not even notice. I think Android versions don't really have much for the end user unless he or she needs a specialized application that makes use of the newer APIs.
I'd rather go with something thats open-ish and stale than this controlled freakshow that is the iOS ecosystem.
Android in its present form is an uncontrolled freakshow. To test an Android app properly requires at least a dozen devices if not more, and even then you're only scratching the surface. You need a veritable museum at hand to be sure you've got it right.
What Apple's doing right is introducing new features and then aggressively pushing these down to the devices. iOS 5 is by far the majority of devices now, and very few are on anything under 4.
Android on the other hand seems perpetually stuck in 2.3 land. As you point out there's not much in the way of advantages if none of the apps are dependent on features introduced in 4.0. This further stalls the upgrade cycle.
To succeed Google is going to have to take a more active role and ensure that there's fewer conflicting interpretations of their standard, well-defined reference devices, and more urgency to get users to upgrade.
I'd rather go with something thats open-ish and stale than this controlled freakshow that is the iOS ecosystem.